Garage door



F. J. KAPPES Jan. 11, 1949.

GARAGE DOOR Filed Aug. 28, 1945 lrlllllllh h l l h I. I lllb lNVENTOR ihqzwr- J KAPPES ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 11, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GARAGE DOOR Frank J. Kappes, San Mateo, Calif.

Application August 28, 1945, Serial No. 613,063

2 ClaimS.- (Cl. 160-490) An object of my invention is to provide a garage door that is of the overhead opening type. The door is formed in sections which are pivoted together in a novel manner so that the sections will be raised to the top of the door frame during the opening movement. The movement of the door sections into open position will clear the automobile or other vehicle that is standing in the garage.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the type described in which the weight of the door sections is practically balanced by a counterweight, the counterweight being slightly heavier than the door sections so that the garage door may be readily opened by the counterweight itself.

Still a further object of my invention is to provide a device of the type described which is simple in construction, easy to operate and in which the door sections are arranged in substantially dead center position when the door is closed so that the counterweight will have no tendency to open the door accidentally.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification, and the novel features of the device will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanyme; drawings forming a part of this application, in which:

Figure 1 is a rear elevation of the garage door showing it in closed position;

Figure 2 is a vertical section through the device taken along the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a horizontal section taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a perspective View of one side of the door showing it in an enlarged scale; and

Figure 5 is an enlarged view of a door section hinge illustrating how a key may be used for securing the hinge parts against accidental movement when the door is in closed position.

While I have shown only the preferred form of my invention, it should be understood that various changes or modifications may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

In carrying out my invention, 1 provide a garage door frame indicated generally at A. Figure 3 shows the frame as being provided with a pair of guide channels I and 2 for receiving door rollers that are connected to the lower door section. In addition, a well 3 is provided adjacent to the channel 2 for receiving a counterthe door is in closed position.

2 weight which is operatively connected to the door sections for counterbalancing the weight of these sections.

The garage door itself is formed with an upper section B and a lower section C. The upper section B is about one-half the height of the lower section C. The length of both sections is sufficient for them to extend between the sides 4 and 5 of the door frame A. The top of the door section B is hinged at 6, see Figure 2, to the top I of the door frame.

Hinges D pivotally connect the two door sections together. In Figure 5 I show the detail of one of the hinges and a description of this hinge will suffice for both, because the hinges are identical in construction. The upper hinge 8 is secured to the lower corners of the upper door section B by screws 9 or'other suitable fastening means. The lower hinge ii) is pivoted to the hinge 8 at H and is secured to the upper corners of the lower door section C by screws l2 or other suitable fastening means.

The upper hinge 8 has a slot l3 that is designed to register with a slot it of the lower hinge when A key l5, see Figures 1 and 5, is pivoted to the door frame 4 at l6 and has a detent I! that enters the slot l4 when the door sections are in closed position and prevents the door sections from being swung into open position accidentally. The handle I8 is provided for swinging the key in a counterclockwise direction for freeing the detent H from the slot l3. If desired the key [5 could be operated by remote control such as a point removed from the garage door frame so that the key could be actuated by the driver to release the door while he was still in the automobile. This would obviate the necessity for the driver to get out of the automobile in order to open the garage doors.

In Figure 4 I show the garage door sections B and C connected together by one of the hinges D and a cable l9 has its free end connected to the lower section 0 by means of a pin 20. The pin 20 is disposed above the roller 2| that is placed at the middle of the lower door section C. Figure 3 shows the lower door section C as carrying two rollers 2|, one on each side of the section and these rollers are received in the channels l and 2. Referring to Figure 1, I show the cable l9 passing from the pin 2! upwardly and over an idler pulley 22 disposed at the upper left hand corner of the door frame A when looking at Figure 1. The cable I9 then extends horizontally across the top of the door frame and is passed around an idler pulley 23 which is disposed at the upper right hand corner of the door frame. The cable I 9 then extends downwardly to a weight 24 that rides in the well 3.

A second cable 25 is connected to the pin 20 disposed on the opposite side of the lower door section C and the cable is passed upwardly and over the idler pulley 23 and then downwardly and is connected to the counterweight 24. The weight 24 is sufficiently heavy to more than balance the weight of the door sections and therefore the weight will raise the door sections into open position as soon as they have been swung slightly out of dead center position.

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, the operation thereof may be readily understood.

In Figure 2 I show the door frame A in relation to the floor 26 of a garage. An automobile 21 is shown in the garage and an are 28 indicates how the upper door section B will swing clear of the car as the door is swung into open position. The dot dash line 29 in Figure 2 indicates how the lower door section C slants inwardly as this section is raised and further shows how the lower door section will ride clear of the car during its upward movement. The lower door section has a handle 30 for raising the garage door if necessary and this handle is grasped when lowering the garage door into closed position.

When the key I5 is swung about its pivot l6 to free it from the door hinge D, the weight 24 will raise the door sections into open position because the point of the hinge H is placed to one side of a straight line interconnecting the two door sections, see Figure 4. The door sections will be moved upwardly by the weight 24 and will be supported in raised position by the cables as shown in Figure 2. The automobile 2? is now free to be moved out of the garage.

The garage door is manually closed by grasping the handle 30 and moving the door section C downwardly. This is easily accomplished because, as already stated, the weight of the door sections is practically counterbalanced by the counterweight 24. When the door sections are closed, the key l5 may be swung back into the slot l3, so that the door will not accidently open.

I claim:

1. A garage door comprising a door frame, an upper door section hinged to the frame top and swingable about a horizontal axis, the second door section of about twice the height of the first and being hinged to the first, the sides of the frame having vertical roller guides, rollers disposed at the sides of the second section and approximately midway between its top and bottom, said rollers being receivable in the guides, cables connected to the second section sides near the rollers and being passed over pulleys disposed at the frame top, a weight connected to the free ends of the cables and slightly more than counter-balancing the weight of the two door sections, whereby the door sections will be moved upwardly into open position by the weight, at least one of the hinge connections between the door sections having a slot therein, and a key pivoted to the frame and having a portion receivable in the slot when the door sections are closed for holding the door sections in closed position.

2. A garage door comprising a door frame with sides that have roller receiving channels therein, an upper door section hinged to the frame top with the hinge arranged to swing that door section inwardly relative to a garage when the door is opened, a lower door section hinged to the first section and having about twice the height of the first section, the hinges between the door sections being disposed at the door section sides and at least one of the hinges having a slot therein, rollers disposed at approximately the centers of the lower section sides and receivable in the channels, cables secured to the lower section sides at points adjacent to the rollers, idler pulleys disposed at the upper corners of the door frame, said cables being passed over the pulleys, a weight connected to the free ends of the cables for raising the sections and opening the door, and a key pivoted to the door frame and swingable into the hinge slot when the door sections are closed for holding the sections in closed position.

FRANK J. KAPPES.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Farr May 5, 1931 Number 

